November 4th, 2009 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft, Hiking, Survival Skills, Wildlife
Wow! Tomorrow begins our adventure in the Allegheny Mountains, with the Gear Junkie. We’re extremely pumped — and you should be too, since you’re voting on our first day’s activities!
Since the trip is the grand prize of the Junkie’s Choose Your Own Adventure sweepstakes, we want you to be a part of it. We need [...]
January 24th, 2009 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft, Canada, Survival Skills
The National Film Board of Canada just launched nfb.ca, a fantastic collection of online films, many of them full-length. A little digging around and you’ll find enough nature documentaries to sustain a man for some weeks.
“Survival in the Bush” here, is like Survivorman of the ’50s… almost. You’ll see. Purposefully stranding himself in the wild [...]
January 5th, 2009 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft
Well, they don’t slow down, that’s for sure. Take this entry from the Bushcraft International Toothbrush Challenge, for example. Yes: A competition to make toothbrushes out of twigs. I viewed several submissions on this rather slow news day and found the above video the most inspired, yet efficient, means of staving off gingivitis when lost [...]
November 10th, 2008 | by Andy | published in Art, Bushcraft, Canoeing
A clip from Earl’s Canoe, a documentary about an Ojibway man’s construction of a traditional birch bark canoe. The camera follows his whole process, beginning with selecting bark in the woods of Madeleine Island. This definitely looks like one of those fascinating step-back-through-time films.
October 14th, 2008 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft, Nature, Outdoor Living
Rainbound inside your tent? Got nine minutes to kill while your Mountain High dinner rehydrates? Here’s a simple project to try on the next trip: How to make cattail ducks and swans.
Okay, okay, I’ll admit they are kinda cute. Even if the idea is totally stolen from how they wrap your leftovers in aluminum foil [...]
September 15th, 2008 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft, Camping
How to get a better night’s sleep on the trail? Go old skool and fashion yourself a pine duff mattress, of course!We’d read in old camping books how resourceful outdoorsmen would stuff bivy sacks with pine boughs, dead leaves and moss. It provided insulation and padding, making sleep in the wild much more bearable. So, [...]
August 26th, 2008 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft, North Shore, Outdoor Living, Resources, Survival Skills
Want to learn how to live “comfortably in the bush on an indefinite basis with a minimal dependence on technological materials and tools?” Or maybe just how to go winter camping, without ending up as the next Jon Krakauer book?
Mors Kochanski is the author of the classic instructional book, “Bushcraft.” And I was thrilled to [...]
June 6th, 2008 | by Andy | published in Bushcraft, Environment, Outdoor Living, Survival Skills
I just listened to an interview with Norm Kidder, VP of a non-profit that teaches primitive technologies (as in stone tools, adzes, bows and arrows. etc). He discusses why primitive tool-making still has a place in our modern world. The highlight, though, comes when he points out the problem with the ‘leave no trace’ ethic.
The [...]